“Cliff tagged you and noted his location. In your father’s video he posted, you can see all of us in the background. You and me. Carolina. Whit and Summer.”
I press my forehead against his chest, closing my eyes. “She’s been stalking me on social media, I assume.”
“Stalking everyone it looks like,” he agrees, just as he slips his fingers beneath my chin and tilts my face up. “No one told her about the party. She just made her own assumptions.”
“I worried someone said something,” I admit. “I thought maybe Monty would want to create a little chaos, not knowing how bad it really is between my mother and me.”
“He did nothing, though he did admit he got a little excited when your mother first appeared. He didn’t realize your relationship with your mother was basically destroyed. No one told him the real reason either,” Spencer reassures.
“I don’t want it getting out. The gossip will be unbearable.”
His jaw firms, and I can tell he’s clenching his teeth. “Why are you protecting her? She tried tokillyou, Sylvie. You said so yourself.”
“Based on my own assumptions. I don’t know it as fact,” I say.
“Don’t fall for her lies. She’s trying to convince you that your assumptions are wrong, when they’re not. You should try to see some of those doctors she used to take you to. Look at your medical files. You have every right to request to see your medical records from when you were a kid.”
“I visited so many doctors and specialists, and went to so many clinics. All over the state, the country. We even went to a few places internationally. Not a single one of them knew what was wrong with me. I’m sure my records are filled with an endless list of symptoms and no solutions.”
“Don’t give up on yourself.” He grips me by my shoulders, giving me a gentle shake. “You deserve to know what she did to you.”
“Her evil deeds aren’t documented, Spence. My mother isn’t stupid.” I hang my head, staring at my sandal-clad feet. They’re a nude color and strappy, and my toenails are painted the same shade of pink as my dress. I put so much planning and thought into this afternoon, and it’s all been ruined by my mother’s appearance.
If I’m not doing the ruining, she is.
“Maybe you should file a restraining order against her,” Spencer says quietly.
I lift my head. “That’s just so…final.”
“You need to do something. She’s a threat to you, Syl. It’s like she gets off on making you uncomfortable. She knows she rattles you.” He snaps his lips shut, exhaling through his nostrils. Oh, he looks angry on my behalf, and a part of me loves that. “I hate that she spooks you so badly.”
“It’s more than spooking me,” I admit. “She…terrifies me. Even when we’re with a bunch of people. Even when we’re in the middle of a wedding with hundreds of guests. I never know what she’s going to do or say to devastate me. And that’s just with her words. The fact that she’s a physical threat to me is…horrifying. She wants to hurt me, Spence”
The last words come out of me in a harsh whisper, my throat closing up. Knowing you can’t trust the woman who brought you into the world is agonizing.
Heartbreaking.
“You can never be alone with her again,” he says vehemently.
I can’t help but smile. “Don’t worry. I try my hardest not to be around her at all.”
“Yet she still comes around.” He shakes his head. “She shows up here again, I’m calling the cops.”
“You’d call the police for me, despite what you—do?” I’m referring to the mob stuff. His father’s business. The blood money, Mom accusing him of being a criminal. Everyone talks about it, but I don’t see it.
I kind of want to see it.
“I would do anything to keep her away from you.” He yanks me back into his arms, holding me so tight, it’s like I can’t breathe.
“Sometimes I wish she would just…disappear,” I admit, resting my cheek against the lapel of his jacket.
He’s quiet for a moment before he says, “That can be arranged.”
I don’t respond, unsure if he’s serious or not but…
I’m kind of thinking he might be.
TWENTY-SEVEN